Change of season

I feel like I have started hibernating. As we approach the Winter Solstice, I have begun sleeping in later and later in the morning.

I usually get up around 5 a.m. This has been my habit for the past 20 years or so. Lately, however, I have started getting up in the middle of the night for a little while to get something to drink and to check the computer, then going back to bed. Either because of the cold I have had for the past several weeks, or because of the change in weather, I have started sleeping in until about 9 a.m. It's like a guilty pleasure to be all warm and snuggly in bed, with a cat or two or three at your feet.

It feels colder outside and it could snow any day now (we have been promised a white Christmas). You can almost smell the snow in the air. We have to dress warmer, both inside and outside, and we crave warm foods such as chili and soups. Our feet are always cold so we put on socks (the tile kitchen floor is freezing cold). Both husband and I are going to bed earlier than usual, not because we are bored, but because it gets dark around 5 p.m. and nighttime makes you sleepy. Even an interesting program on TeeVee can't keep us awake most evenings.

In our youth we could party hardy all night long no matter what the weather. Now that we are old fogies, it seems that with Winter approaching all we want to do is nestle warm and cozy. We watched March of the Penguins the other night and just the sight of the Antarctic winter made us feel cold. Brrrr.

Summer is sunny, hot days, warm breezes, swimming lazily in the pool, working outside in the yard, eating outside, and sitting on the deck admiring nature in all its glory. Winter, while beautiful in its own terrible way and part of the grand scheme of things, chills me to the bone. I grew up in a cold climate and found I do not like it. Living in Kentucky gives us the change in seasons we like with not as much harsh weather as up North. We are happy if it doesn't snow very much.

So, as the Earth rotates on its axis and days become shorter, we will hunker down in our warm, cozy houses and hibernate for a couple of months. We will eat our soups and chili, put on a little extra clothing, and sleep a little longer in the morning. We will pretend we are bears and snuggle awhile until an early Spring wakes us up.

So goes the cycle of Nature at its best.